Ethics at Hcéres
Article L. 114-3-1 of the French Research Code states that Hcéres ‘builds its action on the principles of objectivity, transparency, adversarial debate and equal treatment of the structures being evaluated. The choice of experts to carry out evaluations is guided by the principles of neutrality, scientific expertise, acknowledged by the highest international standards, balanced representation of subject areas, expertise and opinions, and the absence of conflicts of interest’.
In accordance with Articles 4 and 9 to 13 of Law No. 2017-55 of January 20, 2017, on the general status of independent administrative authorities and independent public authorities, the Hcéres' board has adopted a set of rules of procedure, published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française on 26 June 2022. Many provisions refer to its staff’s and members’ ethical obligations.
In accordance with the provisions of Article L. 124-2 of the Code général de la fonction publique and Decree no. 2017-519 of April 10, 2017 relating to the ethics officer in the civil service, Hcéres has also appointed an ethics officer to provide its staff with any piece of advice they may need, to comply with their ethical obligations and principles.
The Hcéres ethics officer is Pascal AIMÉ, Honorary Inspector General of Education, Sport and Research. He is bound by professional secrecy and can be reached out to Email, respecting full confidentiality.
This referral only regards questions that members of the board, governance, department directors, other staff (permanent agents, scientific advisers and scientific project managers) and Hcéres experts may have concerning their individual situation or a situation unfolding within Hcéres. It does not, therefore, concern situations happening in institutions, entities, bodies or structures under evaluation, which fall under each institution’s ethics officer’s responsibility.